FALL OF FRANCE AND THE CANADIAN HOME FRONT. Fall of France  Maginot Line – The most sophisticated trench in history.  Decoy on Belgian front (May 10.

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Presentation on theme: "FALL OF FRANCE AND THE CANADIAN HOME FRONT. Fall of France  Maginot Line – The most sophisticated trench in history.  Decoy on Belgian front (May 10."— Presentation transcript:

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Dunkirk (May 28 th - June 4 th )  British and French troops fall back to Port of Dunkirk  GER pauses to consolidate troops and repair equipment  “Operation Dynamo” put into effect  Civilian vessels used to evacuate British troops  300,000 men evacuated.  68,000 killed or captured  The operation was viewed as a success in Britain but Churchill cautioned that “Wars are not won by evacuations”  40:30 – 46:50

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Northern France

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THE HOME FRONT

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Conscription Debate  Fearing a backlash from French Canadians, MacKenzie King promises that Canada will not introduce conscription for “overseas service”.  Germany’s early success creates public pressure for Canada to introduce conscription but the high number of volunteers made it unnecessary.  In 1940 King introduces the “National Mobilization of Resources Act” which allows conscription for domestic defence only.  “Zombies” were people who had been conscripted into the army under the NRMA and trained but then refused overseas service. Zombies were resented by most other Canadians.  As volunteer enlistment numbers fell, pressure once again mounted for overseas conscription. In response to this pressure in 1942 King holds a Plebiscite (referendum) on conscription.  “Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary” (King)

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Results  63% of Canadians supported consrciption.  80% of English voted YES  73% of French voted “NON”  17,000 “Zombies” served overseas before the end of the war.

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Highlights  Over 200,000 women enter the industrial workforce  Canada supplies $4 Billion worth of equipment to Britain during the war.  Much of Britain’s equipment was lost at Dunkirk  Canada ends the war with the world’s 3 rd largest navy and 4 th largest air force.

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$33 Billion Dollar Price Tag

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Victory Bonds  First bond drive raised over $200 million in 48hrs  Supported by intense adverstising campaigns.  By the end of the war over $12.5 Billion had been raised through war bonds.  Canada’s primary lender was the Canadian people.

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Salvage and Scrap  1942 becomes illegal to horde steel amounting to over 500 lbs. Offenders faced $5000 fines and up to 5 years in prison.  Canadians were encouraged to donate everything from old tires to women’s under garments all in service of the war effort.  School programs encouraged students to collect and postal workers went door to door collecting materials.